


Sonnet 18

by iwtv



Category: Black Sails
Genre: Hand Jobs, M/M, Thomas is such a tease, lots of fluff and porn by the river, peach verse continues, semi-erotic bathing, thomas seduces with Shakespeare
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-30
Updated: 2017-04-30
Packaged: 2018-10-26 00:33:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10775760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iwtv/pseuds/iwtv
Summary: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”Thomas said in a smooth, rolling voice he once reserved for making a point amongst a group of peers—or to secretly woo a certain navy lieutenant long ago. Now he used it exclusively as seduction and James felt a little thrill reverberate through his stomach. Thomas kissed the top of his head and lightly rubbed his shoulders.





	Sonnet 18

It was Thomas who had discovered the river behind the peach grove. They had been living there for nearly a week before he’d stumbled upon it during a ride on horseback. The group of deer who frequented the area had made a well-worn trail that had been easy to follow, right up to their main water source.

The river was not a large river. James said it was probably no more than twenty or twenty-five feet wide. Its bed was made almost exclusively of rounded stones, perfectly smooth after centuries of the current riding over them.

It was perfect for bathing.

That was how they’d discovered it wasn’t very deep either, coming up to James’s chest in the deepest part. Thomas had jested that James should let him wade out into the middle for fear of the shorter man drowning.

James remembered the joke fondly as he joined Thomas in stripping off their clothes on the river bank. It was the middle of summer and the two of them had been using the river almost daily to cool off. This part of the New World, James had discovered, was much more humid without the benefit of the ocean’s constant breeze.

Thomas waded out first, wincing and hunching his shoulders as he always did when the cold water first touched above his ankles. Even in summer the river ran a touch cool. James was eternally grateful. He had no problem adjusting to the temperature as they made their way out, the water lapping up just past his knees when they stopped.

Thomas stepped up on what he claimed as “their boulder.” It was a very large and flat piece of stone that perfectly accommodated two grown men sitting on it. James climbed up behind him and together they carefully sat themselves down in the current, with Thomas settling in between James’s legs, wincing all the way.

“It’s just my knees,” he claimed, when James knew he was still whining about the water temperature.

“Of course it is,” he readily agreed with a chuckle. Thomas reached back and slapped his arm, sending a splash of water to his face. James chuckled again.

“Soap, if you please,” said James.

Thomas handed him the bar of soap they had brought. James automatically began washing Thomas’s back. They weren’t too old to wash hard-to-reach areas, James reminded himself, but in this new life it was far more enjoyable to wash each other.

James was perfectly content in his task. He wiped the soap in wide circles over his lover’s back and shoulders, marveling at each and every curve in a way he had not done back in London. Thomas was still thinner than he but he had developed muscles. James could never get enough of all the rolls and curves, either looking at or touching.

He took his time in lathering up Thomas’s back and the tops of his shoulders, enjoying the feel of slickened skin beneath his fingers. He slid up to coat Thomas’s neck, fingers slipping down around the base of his neck and to his collarbone. He let out a long sigh. Thomas chuckled.

“James,” he said.

“Hmm? Oh sorry.”

He had been humming, too, in addition to getting lost in the contact. James smiled and slid his hands down Thomas’s back.

“Hair,” he said.

Thomas leaned forward and dunked his head. James swiftly leaned out of the way as Thomas reared back and flung water everywhere, using more force than was necessary.

“You missed,” James practically sang.

“Damn.”

James lathered his head with the soap then handed it to Thomas so he could scrub the blonde’s head while Thomas washed his front side. When James was done Thomas’s head was a thick foamy blob. He reached in front of him and gave a few soapy tugs at Thomas’s beard. Thomas laughed.

“I feel like a pampered dog,” he quipped.

Thomas washed off all the soap and then it was James’s turn. Instead of switching places however, Thomas turned himself around so that they faced each other. He sat down carefully over the bolder and slid his legs over James’s bare thighs. James felt himself grinning but still managed to state seriously, “I can clean my front side just fine, you know.”

Without responding Thomas hummed and proceeded to soap up James’s barrel chest, thumbs flicking over his nipples. James ceased his half-hearted protests. Thomas touched him much the same way as James had touched Thomas; going slowly and savoring the contact as though it was always new.

He scruffed his fingers through James’s beard. James closed his eyes.

“That feels good. It itches terribly this time of year.”

“Hmm. Well don’t you dare think of shaving it.”

“As long as you don’t shave yours.”

“I won’t. Hair.”

James dunked his head. He smoothed back his ever-growing crop of dark reddish hair away from his face. He had nowhere to look except at Thomas as the blonde studiously cleaned his head. He loved to watch Thomas when he was busy concentrating. It didn’t matter if he was picking peaches or cooking dinner or reading a book. The way the skin crinkled at the corners of his eyes and how he would poke out the tip of his tongue if he was deep in thought made James absurdly satisfied with his life.

Truth be told, James was content to listen to him _breathe_ nowadays.

Never again would he take even the most mundane parts of Thomas for granted.

Their bathing session ended with kissing. Having Thomas straddle him nude was too tempting to break away from so James pressed their bodies together instead, lips getting their fill. At last Thomas broke away with a giggle.

“I’m turning into a prune, darling,” he said, holding up wrinkled finger pads.

They made their way out of the river and sat down on a sheet to be used for drying off. Thomas had spread it out under the single old willow tree that grew there, giving them respite from the directness of the sun’s rays. Today though, they let the dappled sunlight and the air do the drying for them. James motioned for Thomas to sit behind him. He settled himself between Thomas’s legs, leaning up against his front, head resting against Thomas’s chest. Thomas propped himself up on his elbows.

 _“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”_ Thomas said in a smooth, rolling voice he once reserved for making a point amongst a group of peers—or to secretly woo a certain navy lieutenant long ago. Now he used it exclusively as seduction and James felt a little thrill reverberate through his stomach. Thomas kissed the top of his head and lightly rubbed his shoulders.

_“Thou art more lovely and more temperate,”_ he continued. _“Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, and summer’s lease hath all too short a date.”_

The words were vaguely familiar to James but he couldn’t place them.

“Who is that?” he asked. Thomas’s hands left his shoulders and tickled themselves through his chest hair. Then he wrapped a leg around James’s, holding him tighter. James could feel Thomas’s soft cock pressing against his back. He wiggled, settling in deeper between his lover, his head falling back on Thomas’s shoulder.

_”Sometimes too hot the eye of heaven shines, and often is his gold complextion dimmed…”_

Thomas’s lips were on his cheek, kissing him lightly here and there. James closed his eyes. He could do this all day, every day. To hell with the peaches! Ah no, but he enjoyed their little peach farm. It was a close second favorite.

But now he kept his mind firmly in the present and on Thomas. Every touch, every wisp of breath, was a reaffirmation that Thomas Hamilton was alive and well. Would he ever wake up one morning and simply _accept_ that truth? Without wanting to weep?

Probably not. And that was fine.

 _And every fair from fair sometimes declines,”_ Thomas continued, gliding his hands down James’s chest, to his stomach and down to graze his thighs. _“…By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed; But thy eternal summer shall not fade…”_

James sucked in a sharp breath when Thomas took hold of his cock, soft and growing warm again after the river. He stroked it lazily, running his thumb over the top of the shaft. James gently bucked into it, letting him know he could continue.

_“…Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st, nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his shade, when in eternal lines to Time thou grow’st.”_

“A sonnet,” James mumbled, then said it louder, trying to fight off the pleasure Thomas was bestowing on him long enough to talk. “It is a sonnet, though I can’t place it.”

“It will come to you,” said Thomas. “You know, I remember in certain, less proprietary circles in England, they said that the author of the sonnet was speaking about another man.”

Thomas spat into his hand and worked it over James with more purpose, fondling his scrotum before returning to rub over his cock-head. James moaned louder. What was that Thomas was saying about the author being like them? He pushed himself up slightly on his palms, which were draped on either side of Thomas’s thighs. He tilted his head back and Thomas’s lips met his. He opened his mouth, eager for more contact. Thomas’s tongue pushed down his throat as he palmed James’s cock, working his shaft at a good pace now and building into a rhythm. James felt his lust pushing its way up and out of him, his throat going dry and his breathing heavier.

“Is that…is that all of it? The sonnet?” he asked in a thick voice.

“Mmm, I love when you sound as though I’m ravishing you,” Thomas answered instead.

“You’re not there yet,” James replied with a toothy grin.

Thomas pressed his lips together and shifted forward. He brought his other hand to James’s belly, rubbing over it and pinching his nipples, all the while his other hand pulled over his cock, twisting over and off his cock-head repeatedly until James was openly panting. He was starting to tremble, his balls heavy and aching. He clutched the back of Thomas’s head, pulling him into a hard kiss he could only sloppily return. Thomas smiled into his lips, his own breath heavy.

James looked down to watch him. His cock was thick and throbbing. Thomas pulled the skin over his head and back down again, index finger rolling playfully over the precum that had started to leak out. He used it to slicken his shaft. He brought his fingers up to James’s mouth. James quickly took them down. Thomas bucked his hip up into him. James could feel Thomas’s cock, now half-hard, up against his back.

Thomas pushed two fingers in and out of James’s mouth. Whimpering without shame now James pulled on his own cock, faster and faster as the hard pressure built up inside him, the titillation almost overwhelming. He writhed his body over Thomas’s.

Thomas batted his hands away and returned to jerking him. He moved his hand so fast over his lover’s cock that James cried out. He felt as if his chest were going to explode in the most wonderful way. Wave after wave of pleasure enveloped his body. He listened to Thomas’s short, heavy breaths at his ear, his whole focus on James’s cock.

James pressed his body hard into Thomas’s, bucking up into his touch. At last the final, blinding wave of pleasure rolled over him. He crushed his eyes shut and turned his face into Thomas’s neck.

“Oh fuuuuck,” he bleated out. Come gushed out of him. Thomas slowed his pace, muttering soft curses. James watched as he ran his hand all over his shaft, getting as much come as he could. He brought it first to his own mouth. James moaned anew as Thomas closed his eyes and sucked on his fingers. Then he kissed James. James was still bucking, unwilling to let the feeling go. Gradually his body calmed itself and he let out a breathy laugh. Thomas could not keep his hands to himself even now and was absently rubbing over his left pectoral muscle. And suddenly James remembered.

“Shakespeare,” he said. “It’s a sonnet by Shakespeare.”

Thomas nodded and hummed. His voice, when he spoke, was low and husky.

_"So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, so long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”_

“Beautiful,” James whispered, closing his eyes again. He wasn’t the least bit tired but he felt so good it was hard to keep them open. So long lives _this_. And he thought about his life now. Indeed, everything here was full of life: the peaches in their grove and the birds and squirrels that made their homes there, the river that fed the deer James hunted and the fish that swam there; the very air itself, which was very different than the thick, salty air of the sea, offered him life.

And of course Thomas lying with him now, breathing in that same air and _alive_ with him. He was the most important life and the only one James had ever known--with unflinching certainty--that cared as much for him as he did for Thomas. _And this gives life to thee._

**Author's Note:**

> So Sonnet 18 is probably one of Shakespeare's most famous, and recently (relatively speaking anyway) there's been the theory that it was written about another man, going along with the theory that Shakespeare might have been gay. This was what I was taught in college; the theory may have changed since then but I thought it was pitch-perfect for Thomas to use, even if it was too early for anyone to think he was gay (I think). Also I create my own meaning from the sonnet and it's probably not exactly the same as the usual interpretation, but again, I thought it worked nicely for my purpose here. Also if you go the route of the actual meaning of the sonnet then Thomas is basically speaking about immortality and that even though he and James are getting older, Thomas isn't thinking of them moving towards death. :)))


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